Dr. Ansell on Promise With Immunotherapy in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, of Mayo Clinic, discusses studies exploring PD-1 inhibitors in Hodgkin lymphoma, specifically nivolumab (Opdivo) in the CheckMate-039 trial.

One of the main questions surrounding early data is whether the responses and promising results will hold up in longer follow-up, Ansell explains. Examples of more mature follow-up were seen at the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting. Moreover, the responses seen with the PD-1 inhibitors such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab are showing response rates of 65% to 70% that are durable. Patients remain on treatment for 1 year, and sometimes 2 years, and are still benefitting from therapy.

These updated findings suggest that the responses are lasting longer and are more durable than previously thought, he adds.